Why Not Engineering Perspectives Of Young Women And The Influence Of Media

This pilot study is developed to assess how young women (10 grade girls) come to know the engineering profession. The study analyzes young women’s career exploration approach and the influence that the engineering language and imagery has upon the young women as they explore the profession. The pilot study employs a qualitative research design and utilizes feminist theory to better understand the perspectives of the young women. The research methodology incorporates participatory action research whereby the young women participate in the design of the study (primarily the data collection methods). The researcher presents the findings using an ethnographic writing style in order to tell the story from the perspectives of the research participants. The contents of this paper include: definition of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, preliminary research, research design and methods, and early findings.